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If the infusion of walking directions in Google Maps interests you, and you don’t mind the privacy concerns voiced about Google’s Street View, and you happen to have a Web-enabled mobile phone on hand, you may be glad to know Google Maps for Mobile is now newly improved with both these features.

As logic would have it, walking directions and Street View compliment each another well. For city residents, walking directions can naturally give you a less circuitous route to your intended destination. Google’s engine isn’t always the best utility to devise pedestrian ways with efficiency in mind, but it’s bound to improve. Street View, in turn, allows you to see where it is your chosen path will lead. On a map that otherwise continuously sports a bird’s-eye view, the inclusion of ground-level roadside captures is pretty much a no-brainer. Bound together, they make for a supremely attractive couple.

Of course, there are only so many Google users who employ their phones to interact with the Web giant’s search services, and even fewer that can enhance their small-screen experience with the advent of Street View. But the pool will only expand with time, as more people in the US, Australia, Japan, the UK, and beyond see Google’s cameras, controversy and all, make their way through their neighborhoods. For travelers navigating foreign terrain, today’s enhancements are similarly purposeful.

If your phone is Java-enabled or is a member of the BlackBerry family, the latest version of Google Maps for Mobile is available for download. Just point your browser, mobile- or desktop-based, to ‘http://www.google.com/gmm’. Google mentions it is developing the updated service for “other platforms,” too, but no word on when other flavors will emerge. The iPhone owners of the world, particularly those with 3G on board, will certainly be wanting for a refresh having observed this two-part debut. And the eyes eager for Android must be an extra bit gleeful as well.